Novel nanocrystalline zinc silver antimonate (ZnAg sub(3)SbO sub(4)): an efficient & ecofriendly visible light photocatalyst with enhanced hydrogen generation

Herein, we report zinc silver antimonate (ZnAg sub(3)SbO sub(4))/ZAS, a novel visible light active photocatalyst for hydrogen generation. The XRD pattern confirmed the formation of a highly crystalline single phase orthorhombic ZAS. The FESEM and TEM micrographs exhibited that the size of the nanopa...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of materials chemistry. A, Materials for energy and sustainability Materials for energy and sustainability, 2013-10, Vol.1 (41), p.12835-12840
Main Authors: Mahapure, Sonali A, Palei, Prakash K, Nikam, Latesh K, Panmand, Rajendra P, Ambekar, Jalindar D, Apte, Sanjay K, Kale, Bharat B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antimonates
Dispersions
Orbitals
Oxides
Photocatalysis
Silver
Sustainability
Zinc
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Herein, we report zinc silver antimonate (ZnAg sub(3)SbO sub(4))/ZAS, a novel visible light active photocatalyst for hydrogen generation. The XRD pattern confirmed the formation of a highly crystalline single phase orthorhombic ZAS. The FESEM and TEM micrographs exhibited that the size of the nanoparticles are in the range similar to 20-30 nm. An optical study showed a broad absorption edge from 400 to 1000 nm, with an estimated band gap of about similar to 1.48 eV. Considering this ideal band gap, ZAS was used as a photocatalyst for the photodecomposition of H sub(2)S under visible light irradiation to produce hydrogen for the first time. We obtained the utmost hydrogen evolution i.e., similar to 10 200 mu mol h super(-1) g super(-1) for the naked ZAS (without a co-catalyst) catalyst under visible light, which is much higher than the earlier reported photocatalysts. Generally, in complex oxides of p-block metals, the bottom of the conduction band (CB) consists of the merely localized s and/or p orbitals which are largely dispersed. This large dispersion is responsible for a high electron mobility and extremely high photocatalytic activity. Therefore, a complex oxide (ZAS) of Ag, Zn and the p-block metal (Sb) is found to be a promising visible light active photocatalyst. This is the most stable, efficient and eco-friendly novel visible light active oxide photocatalyst for hydrogen production.
ISSN:2050-7488
2050-7496
DOI:10.1039/c3ta12883k